Development Review

ePlan Submittal

Welcome to the City of Lincoln - Lancaster County Planning Department's ePlan Submittal website. On this website, you will learn more about this innovative new approach to the submission and review of planning applications.

ePlan Submittal takes the application process to a new level by employing readily available web-technology for the filing of applications and for communicating directly with applicant contacts. This new process will help streamline the review of development proposals and reduce the amount of actual paper (and printing costs) required for an application submittal.

FAQs

General Questions

ePlan Submittal is the name for our computerized system providing for the digital submittal and review of planning applications. This system was implemented in 2009 to replace the paper based approach that had been used for over 50 years.

ePlan Submittal builds off of the current Planning application process. It
does not significantly alter the basic steps in the process for either those
submitting applications or those reviewing applications. Rather, ePlan Submittal employs readily available World Wide Web technology to ease the submittal and
review of applications.

The simple answer is "no." There will remain times when traditional paper copies of documents will be necessary to meet current statutory requirements. The two most common instances for paper copies will be:

the application form; and

certain final submittal materials.

In both of these instances, original signatures are required on the forms and, in the case of
certain final materials, professional certification stamps are called for. Until such time as digital forms of signatures and professional stamps are allowed by State and local statutes, paper copies will need to be submitted which display ink signatures and the applicable professional certification stamps.

Your availability to a personal computer with Web access is a vital part of ePlan Submittal. The uploading of application files and communications regarding your application will be handled primarily via email and the Web. If you do not have a personal computer or access to one, all City Library locations have computers you may use for free, although you will need a valid email address.

If computer access for ePlan Submittal is a problem for you, call the Planning Department at 441-7491, or visit our office in the County-City Building, 555 South 10th Street, Suite 213.

ePlan Submittal utilizes a web based application called ProjectDox. You will need to use Internet Explorer web browser and a connection to the Internet. You will need to install the ProjectDox components the first time you use ePlan Submittal.

Launch your browser and go to the ePlan Submittal website https://pdox.lincoln.ne.gov/ProjectDox/index.aspx?. Turn off any pop up blocker you may have enabled. Click on "Install ProjectDox Components". Choose "Run" on the window that pops up. Follow the prompts to complete the installation.

Once logged in to the system, you may be prompted on the Information bar to run a couple additional Active X applications. Select the option to allow these to run.

You will only have to complete this process the first time you use the website.

The term "pdf" stands for Portable Document Format. This format was created by Adobe Systems in the mid-1990's for the exchange of digital files. On July 1, 2008, Adobe Systems officially released the "pdf" format for general non-propriety usage.

Other than vector (i.e. CAD) files, all documents are to be submitted (a.k.a. uploaded) using the pdf format. This includes letters, reports, plan drawings, images, and all other supporting documentation.

A project that shows an "In Progress" status is one that is in process, not yet acted on. A project that shows a "Resubmittal Requested" status is one that is pending resubmittal by the Application Contact. A project that shows a "Pending Final Approved Plans" has received Approval with Conditions and will be complete once the Final Approved Plans have been submitted. A project that shows a "Complete" status has been acted on.

Application Contact Questions

Filing an application does NOT begin with ePlan Submittal. The first step is to submit your application form and filing fee to the Planning Department. Your project will be assigned to a Project Planner who will enter the information into our application tracking system. The system will create a ProjectDox project for your application. At that time, the designated ProjectDox contact on your application form will receive an email prompt to upload the files to complete the application submittal. The email address submitted on the application form is the email to be used on the ProjectDox log in screen.

If the person designated as the Project Dox contact has never before used the system, a temporary password will be included in the email notification. Upon logging in with the temporary password, they will be prompted through the steps to complete their user profile and create a permanent password.

Yes - at least for the time being. The long term plan would allow applications to be filed on-line, thus eliminating the need for an applicant to come into our office. Before direct on-line application filing can occur, there will need to be advances in the software and a web-based mechanism put in place for the payment of application fees.

The cut off date for application filings will remain 4:00 p.m. every other Wednesday. The digital files supporting your application must be uploaded onto the ePlan Submittal system by 8:00 a.m. on Thursday (i.e., next business day) in order to meet the deadline requirements.

The submission of CAD files is not a mandated requirement of the Planning Department's ePlan Submittal application process. However, it is strongly recommended georeferenced vector formatted files be included as part of your application. This will facilitate staff's review of your application and potentially offer the ability to return updated or corrected vector files to you for your use in responding to staff comments.

If you have more than one person requiring notification of events on your application, provide the additional names and email addresses to be added to the project by the Project Coordinator.

It is important to note that, in cases of application resubmittal, each person identified as an application contact will receive the email notification of the task, however only one contact can accept the task and submit the documents back to the Project Coordinator.

The Lancaster County Engineer's Office and City Information Services Division have created a website that allows anyone who creates a "MyInterLinc" account to download the geographic coordinates needed for the CAD files. There is no charge for this service. "MyInterLinc" is merely a means the City Information Services Division applies to monitor access to certain portions of InterLinc.

Easements for various public utilities are a basic element on many planning applications. To assist you in laying out the easement locations for your application, review the "Easement Acquisition Guidelines" used by LES. LES and the other utility companies will still be reviewing your plans for easement locations, but having them correctly displayed on your initial submittal will speed the review process.

There is no way to forward your reviews to someone else. We suggest setting up a rule to forward review task notifications to your backup. That person would then need to contact the Project Coordinator to be added to the project. For more information see the ePlan SubmittalTips & Tricks page.

The "Save and Close" button on the eForm allows you to save your work and finish it later. You can also save your markups on the pdf files and return later to edit or add to them. For more information see the ePlan SubmittalTips & Tricks page.

The link in the email notification takes you to the review comments eForm. To access the application documents, find the application number for which you are completing a review in the upper portion (project list) of the Projects window. Click on the appropriate application number to enter the project, view the documents by accessing the folders listed on the left side of the screen.